I wake up in an empty classroom, void of all presence of life. The room has about 25 or thirty desks in rows. Very organized, very clean. There is something different about this particular classroom. Instead of windows and walls, the classroom is surrounded in mirror panels. And each panel has a person in it. They are all very different. Some are average. Some are quite pompous. And some are broken and beaten. I get out of my desk in the center of the room and make my way toward one of the mirrors, which contains a man dressed in a gold suit.
“Who are you?” I question the man in the mirror.
“Why, who am I you ask? I am Pride.” The man says, quite haughtily. I move to the next mirror. In it I see a young man.
“And who are you?”
“I am Hate.” The man says, an evil emanating for his black eyes. I move to the next mirror. In it I see a young boy, curled on the floor, his body bruised, his face bleeding. I kneel down.
“What’s your name?” The boy looks at me, a fear in his eyes.
“My name is Innocence.” The boy says, his voice quivering.
“And who did this to you?” I ask him.
“They did.”
“The mirrors?”
“You know who.” That is all he would say. I move to the next mirror. In it is a young man, he has very little and has a very emaciated frame.
“And who are you?” I ask of him.
“I am Fear” he says and then coughs and turns away. I continue down the way to the next mirror. In it is a man dressed in a suit and tie.
“Did you know that water is chemically synthesized from liquid hydrogen rocket fuel?” Says the man in the mirror.
“Who are you?” I ask of the man.
“Why you should know that. I am Knowledge.” I continue on not sure on where I have ended up. I reach the second to last mirror. In this mirror I see a horrifying apparition. He is completely black, like a substance less shadow with glowing red eyes and pointed white teeth.
“What are you?” I ask, not fearfully but out of curiosity.
“I am the demon inside you. I am your past,” says the figure in a deep, scary voice. I move to the final mirror. In it is a young woman dressed in all white.
“What are you?” I ask.
“I am Wisdom.” She says.
“What is this place? Who are these people in the mirrors?”
“They are you. They represent different qualities in your life. Their appearances represent how much you feed them,” she says. “You tend not to feed your fears and that is why Fear is small and gaunt. But you feed Knowledge and thus he is well off. You must understand that the more you feed each of these qualities, the more power they have in your life. But as you feed the others they will have more and more power. But sometimes you have no control over which ones you feed. Sometimes the things that people do to you feed these qualities.”
“And what is this place?”
“This is the classroom of your heart.”